Washington DC

A Day in The Capital

Washington DC

Dan Brown, in his thriller book “The Lost Symbol”, had his main character run around the city looking for clues in the buildings and memorials.  We followed in his footsteps on Saturday, ably guided by our hosts Jan and Herb.

Our friendship with Herb and Jan was the result of spending time with them in the mountain ski lodges in Canada.  We were privileged to be their guests at their house at Pooleville, where we met their two adorable Persian cats Selkirk and Halifax.

It was only an hour or so drive to DC.  The city is quite compact and in a day we wandered around the centre taking in the monuments, memorials, the Capitol, White House and Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.  It was just an overview of the attractions and to see it all would take weeks.  Herb had lived in the area since 1992 and still was seeing sights for the first time.  There are no buildings higher than the Washington monument.  This gives the city a spacious feel that is quite different from the heavily built-up city of NY. 

On our second day in Pooleville we went for a walk around the beautiful forest paths on nearby Sugarloaf Mountain.   We were back well in time to watch the RWC final, delayed coverage on Herb’s Cable TV. Herb had never seen a rugby match before and was amused by the haka and a bit confused by the rules. Rugby in pretty much unheard of around here and we were surprised it was on TV at all.  A great result, well done AB’s!

Click here to see photos from Washington DC with Jan and Herb

Shenadoah

The Shenadoah Valley  and Blue Ridge Mountains should be familiar names to anyone who was listened to John Denver’s song “Country Road”.   They are close to and popular destinations for all the city people in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia who want a taste of wilderness.  They can experience the grandeur without even getting out of their cars thanks to President Roosevelt’s vision that the views should available for anyone to see.

The Skyline Drive as it is now called is 105 miles of incredibly scenic winding road with a speed limit of 35mph (55kph for those too young to remember the days before metric.  The Appalachian Trail (AT) walking track also winds along the ridge. 

We made the mistake of staying in Front Royal, at the northern end of the valley.  To put it bluntly the town is a run-down hole of a place.  The highlight was finding the tattoo parlour, which proudly advertised a “family atmosphere” above the door.  Right next door, conveniently, were the pregnancy centre and the bail bond shop.

The weather was terrible the day after we arrived and this was a good excuse to drive the Skyline Drive with all the local grey power following behind in tour buses and house busses.  After 33 miles we gave up as the mist was too thick to see anything.  Another opportunity presented itself on the way back to Front Royal as we passed a vineyard ............ wine-tasting!  A fortuitous find which cheered us up considerably.  The wines were excellent, especially the cabernet franc and viognier.

Fortunately the following day was fine and we headed in to the Blue Ridge mountains to climb The Old Rag.  While only 3200 feet high the top part of the climb involved some tricky scrambling up bouldery cracks and slippery worn granite slabs.  Loads of fun and at the top, the usual endless view of disappearing ridges coated in colourful autumnal forest.  We were treated to the sight of three wild black bears running across the road in front of us on the way home.

Next stop a day later, Maryland, which was only an hour or two east. First we did tour through the amazing Luray Cavern which exceeded expectations.  The route then took us through historic Harpers Ferry, where we walked a bit more of the Appalachian Trail, and checked out the old town where John Brown made his famous stand against slavery in 1859.  He was executed for treason and his efforts were immortalised in the song “John Brown’s body lies a mouldering in his grave, but his soul goes marching on”.

 My dad had a working flintlock pistol that was a replica of an original made in the Harpers Ferry Armoury in the mid 1800’s and was fascinating to see the site. Scarily, this armoury was considered the birthplace of modern techniques for mass-production of military weapons.  Previously each gun was handmade.

Next stop, Poolesville, Maryland, home of Surefire Sherfy and the Herbinator.

Click here for photos of the Shenadoah Valley

Driving South

Camden

It was time to head South, following the lines of honking Canadian geese we’d seen from the mountain tops of New England.  Our path deviated through the coastal town of Camden, which has a pretty port area full of sailing and lobster boats.

Why Camden?  Back in the 1980’s, a young Irish student studying English at Cork University came here for holiday work.  Now living and teaching in Oamaru, Tiernach Farrell had entertained us with many stories of his exploits in Maine.  He had recommended the lobster rolls served in Cappies Chowder Bar in Camden, and that was enough excuse for us to pay a visit.  It was worth it!

Winding down the convoluted coast reminds us of how much coast-line there really is on the East Coast USA.  It is massive.  Camden is a picturesque town right on the harbour.

The rest of the drive south, which was about 1200km and took 2 days, was pretty dull on the freeways.  The section through New Jersey was memorable for being so incredibly ugly.  Nothing but man-made structures, all industrial, cranes, tanks, pipes, chimneys, factories, power stations, under and overpasses, fly-overs, old concrete and rusty steel.  This is the other side of USA that we don’t hear about at home.

to see photos of Camden click here

Maine and Bar Harbour

Maine

Is a person who lives in Maine a Maine-iac?  We’d have to say that on the road at least Maine-iacs are very polite, drive slowly and always show patience to Kiwi drivers who have obviously lost their way.

Maine is the USA capital for blueberries, and lobster.  Our visit was directed by our stomachs rather than our sense of adventure.  Also there is a vast amount of beautiful coast both inland and sea.  The population is only 1.3 million so there is plenty of shoreline and wilderness for everyone -it is huge and very uncrowded.

We based ourselves in Bar Harbour for a few days and explored the Acadia National Park.  The hikes were extremely pleasant, small rounded peaks and a wild sea coast.  A highlight was the Precipice Trail, which was more of a rock climb, with iron rungs, rails and ladders fixed to the cliff in places to make it easier.  Like the Via Ferrata in Europe only without the ropes.

The most memorable part of Maine though was the lobster.  Lobster roll, Lobster on Caesar, Whole Lobster with butter, Lobster linguini, Lobster with sherry sauce.  And of course lobster ice cream.  We tried it all (except the ice cream!).   To go with the lobster, we had locally-brewed Atlantic Blueberry beer, Autumn Spiced lager, and Californian Pinot Grigio.  For deserts, the local speciality Blueberry pie, Pumpkin pie and the Indian Pudding - corn meal and molasses!  Delicious..............

Lots of interesting people were on holiday in Bar Harbour when we were there, including a Panty-Hose-wearing man,  the fully-clothed beach sunbathers, and loads of Harley riders without helmets.

We had deer wandering on the lawn just outside our motel in the morning, even though we were just on the edge of the town.

See you in the funny pages!  (traditional Maine-iac farewell, and no, we’ve no idea what it means either ...)

Thanks to Tiernach Farrell, who worked in Maine as a student, for directing us to the best lobster bar in Camden. And for giving us the lowdown on local language.

Click Here to see our photos of Maine

Motel New Hampshire

New Hampshire

It is hard to know what to expect when the state motto is “Live free or die”.  Also, Dara read in the Lonely Planet guide on her Kindle that the state logo was “The Old Man”, which was a rock outcrop that looked in profile like your great grand daddy.  This outcrop fell down in 2003 but the logo is still on the car number plates.

In actual fact, we haven’t felt it to be more liberal or right-wing here than anywhere else so far.  The drive over the state-line was seamless and we headed straight for the most famous loop track in the White Mountains – the “Franconian Loop”.  It is interesting to note the wild animals we’ve seen so far from the highway.

 Game-count so far...

 Deer  6

Turkeys 3

Racoons 1 (recently deceased)

Skunk 1 (recently deceased)

Porcupine 1 (recently deceased)

Mouse 1

Pelican 1

The Franconian Loop (which is not a German contraceptive device), was a 6.5 hour hike (9 miles) taking in 3 peaks on the famous Appalachian Trail.  If the Vermont Long Trail is The Baby, the Appalachian Trail is The Daddy.  It is just less than 2200 miles long and stretches from Georgia to Maine.

We however only managed a couple of miles of the actual ridge, taking in 3 peaks, the Little Haystack, Mt Lincoln, and Mt Lafayette.  There was some urgency in getting around the exposed parts as bad weather was due in the evening. All was still ok when we reached the end of the trail, and coasted down the I93 Highway to Lincoln through a colourful avenue of gold, red and green.

With sore feet, a rest day was planned.  All of you, who believe we may have been getting far too much exercise, and moving too fast, will be pleased to know that today we would be doing nothing but driving, indulging in gluttony and shopping.

So, the rest day started with a 30 minute drive to Polly’s Pancakes for breakfast. Fresh maple syrup, maple paste, pancakes made with home –ground wheat, buck wheat or corn meal.  Also with blueberries, walnuts, coconut & strawberries, and of course the bottomless cup of coffee.

Blood sugar and caffeine levels soaring, we headed over Route 112 to Conway. This scenic drive through the forest is completely free of buildings and was very misty and atmospheric in the pouring rain.  Despite the numerous warnings we have yet to have a moose jumping out on to the road in front of us.

On reaching North Conway, a minor orgy of shopping and eating continued.  Lobster Roll and Clam Chowder, followed a few hours later by pizza Supreme and a bottle of Californian Shiraz.

 Live free or die!.................

Click here to see photos of New Hampshire

Vermont and the Green Mountains

Vermont and the Green Mountains

To get to Vermont we aimed our Honda Civic towards the East, caught a car ferry at Essex and boated across Lake Champlain to Charlotte.  An hour or so later we were ensconced at the Snowdrift Inn at the mountain resort of Stowe.  This place is another perfect example of the classic US motel: and included self-help continental breakfast, which meant we could stock up on enough fruit, pastries and donuts for lunch as well.

There was time for a short walk up the Stowe Pinnacle that afternoon, which was perfect as the next day we’d planned a big walk around the “most difficult” Camel’s Hump circuit in Vermont’s beautiful Green Mountains.

 Although not particularly high, at 4083 feet, the ascent up the South Track on Camel’s Hump was supposed to be “technical”.  As it turned out we found it OK with just some rocky scrambles, reaching the summit in unbelievably clear and warm weather.    Every man and his dog (literally) seemed to be up there enjoying the fantastic view from the bald rocky top.  The Camel’s Hump, and the track up the South Face, is a part of Vermont’s Long Trail.  The LT is about 275 miles long (no metric here) & stretch’s from the southern to the northern border. It is a hiker’s paradise, but just a baby compared to the next trail we were heading towards a few days later.

After the Hump, it was compulsory that we took one of the more popular tourist attractions in the area – the Von Trapp Family Lodge, from “The Sound of Music “ fame.  This is where they ended up when they escaped Austria, and now they have a massive tourism centre with lodge, delicatessen, Austrian-style beer microbrewery, restaurant, biking and walking trails.  We at this stage, of course, were only interested in their beer.  The Dunkel lager is a fine brew.

From Stowe, it is just a couple of hours drive, through lovely country-side, to New Hampshire.  And New Hampshire has NO sales tax (like our GST), so it’s a very sensible place to shop....

Click here to see photos of Vermont

Lake Placid

Lake Placid, The Adirondacks

About 2 hours further north from Lake George lies Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics.  Now a resort town, close to the skiing area of Whiteface Mountain, we were lucky to be able to get accommodation in a little separate cottage right on the lake shore.

 We stayed over a double holiday weekend, as it was Thanksgiving Weekend for the Canadians (only 2 hours drive away) and Columbus weekend for the Americans. Although it was quiet off the beaten track, the main part of town was packed with people and cars.  The weather was uncharacteristically fine, and so every man was out in his convertible or on his Harley.

Highlights for us were:

Climbing  Mt Algonquin, NY State’s 2^nd highest peak, at a breath-taking 5114 feet.  We got away early enough to avoid the crowds (the road-end car-park runs out of spaces) and enjoyed great views from the granite dome which caps the summit like a bald head.

Climbing Cascade Mountain, the easiest of the 4000 footers, with the best view, early again to avoid the crowds.  We were alone on the summit, but on the descent must have passed more than 300 people on their way up. Dara's boots were given a final farewell today and now reside in a bin at Lake Placid.  A nice shoe repair man in Lake George had a go at re-glueing the sole with something that looked like chewing gum.  It lasted just 2 hikes before coming off again..  This led to a bit of retail therapy for some new boots at the local well-stocked Eastern Mountain Sports shop.  Prices are about half those in NZ. 

A long bike ride, on a rented road bike, around the Olympic half Ironman circuit.  While very scenic, it would have been easier with bike shorts and proper pedals.

Another beautiful forest hike to the top of Scarface Mountain, and nearly stepping on another snake.  This began very near the local correction facility so we were a bit nervous about leaving the car in the car-park.  The hunting season has just begun and we passed a guy in full camo gear with serious looking bow and arrow set.

We have really enjoyed the Adirondacks, with the incredibly beautiful forests, granite top dome hills, and calm tree-lined lakes.  Lake Placid has lived up to it's name and would be an OK place to spend more time. The autumn colours and unseasonably fine weather has helped. 


 Next stop, Vermont...




.

Click to see photos of Lake Placid

Lake George

Lake George, NY State

Initially the plan after NY was to explore the Catskills, a wild area only a couple of hours drive north of NY City.  After calling in to the village of Catskill and checking out the choice of motels  a change of plan was needed.  It was too quiet, and creepier than the Lufthansa safety video.

Brad and Jessica were typical flag-flying Americans, our hosts at the Tall Pines motel in Lake George, on the edge of the Adirondack Mountain Park.  Brad was proud to say he had all the toys you need to live a full life in Lake George – Camaro SS, huge Dodge Ram truck, snow mobile, twin engine jet-boat, skis, snow shoes, chainsaw, and baseball cap.  He directed us to a great hike the next day up Buck Mountain, and Jessica directed us the shoe repair shop so we could get Dara’s boot soles re-glued.  Buck Mountain was a great introduction to the hills, and a classic “walk in the woods”

The most exciting part was the snake on the track, which was probably a harmless garter snake, but may well have been a rattler for all the squeals from Dara when I tried to get a good photo.  Chipmunks ran around the forest floor, darting in and of holes in the rocks.

The view from the top of the hill was impressive, showing the 40 mile-long lake and forest covered hills as far as the eye could see.  The forest is mainly deciduous, oaks, sycamores, maples ,and ash, and the leaves were just beginning to change colour.

Lake George from the top of Buck Mountain

New York

New York NY

Our USA experience began, as it does with all “visitors”, with a long wait in a super-sized queue through Immigration at JFK, the world’s largest airport.  After being finger-printed and photographed we were in!  New York here we come.

Our first meal, in a burger joint around the corner from our hotel, was again super-sized.   It was obvious some sort of discipline was going to be needed to get us through 2 months of gastro-augmentation.

So Central Park, close to our accommodation, was first destination of choice of next morning.   It was a Sunday and thousands of NY fitness fanatics were running power-walking, roller-blading, cycling and jogging round the park, which is really quite huge, being about 4km long and 1 km wide.  There are numerous ponds and paths, and a large central reservoir with great views across to the city.  We walked a shortened circuit, through some of the great gardened areas, with squirrels everywhere gathering their nuts for winter.  Before heading back to the mayhem of the city, we paid homage to John Lennon’s memorial in the Strawberry Fields, and then walked past the apartment where he was shot.  Yoko still lives there.

To get an idea of actually how big NY is you have to go up to the top of the Rockefeller Building.  All 70 floors of it.   After Immigration, being herded like sheep was like second nature to us.  Naturally, we were fleeced as well.  But the queue and $21 each was worth it as the view is really something.  With man-made buildings as far as the eye can see this is about as far from nature as you can get.

We continued our walk down Broadway to Times Square just in time for one of NY’s famous down-pours.  Despite this, the place was crawling with people, umbrellas poking eyes out, and massive electronic bill-boards lighting the way.  You can’t say you’ve been to NY unless you see a show, so we reserved tickets for “The Jersey Boys”, and went to a diner on the corner not far from the theatre for lunch.  The lunch “special” included a cocktail, and as they say “when in Rome...” 

The show was fantastic, not in any way enhanced by the lunchtime Bloody Mary, just the slick professional act we’d hoped for.  Our first day in NY ended with beer and pizza and a long walk soaking up the city sights at night. 

The crime-rate in NY was “fixed” a few years ago by the then mayor Rudi Giuliani. We always felt safe walking round the city to and from our hotel.

Second day, following a ride on the subway, we took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and then Ellis Island.  This involved almost as much queuing as Immigration, and to reinforce the feeling of being herded, the crowd control fences look just like sheep yards.

Ellis Island was used to process immigrants from about 1890 till 1926. For millions of people this was their first experience of the USA and 1/3 of US citizens today can trace an ancestor who was processed at Ellis Island.

Following this tour we landed back in Manhattan and walked past Wall Street to the World Trade Centre Memorial site. A new single 100 story tower is being constructed on the site, and the rest is partly garden and partly site preparation for something else.  It was an eerie feeling being there and trying to imagine the scene of 9/11.

A long walk back to our hotel followed, through China Town, Little Italy (yummy coffee and cake), Soho,  & Times Square (again). After 2 days in such a busy and artificial environment, we were looking forward to heading North to the wilderness of the Adirondack Mountains.

Click here to see photos of New York

The Pyrenees

 The Pyrenees

The Pyrenees mountains are apparently the oldest limestone massif in Europe.  Compared to the NZ Southern Alps, which are about the same height, they are worn, eroded, and full of history.  We crossed ancient Roman roads, stayed near  the remains of a monastery built in 833BC, and walked past megalithic monumentss.

Our drive from the Basque Country through Pamplona went well, and after reaching the Carmino Santiago walking path we headed north to Jaca for lunch.  The helpful Tourist Info office gave us maps and pointed us towards The Echo Valley.  The sides of the valley became closer together, the hills bigger and the road narrower.  We stopped first at the lovely town of Echo, then went on a couple of km’s to Siresa, to an atmospheric old hotel.  Siresa iss famous for its old Romanesque monastery, narrow streets lined with buildings made from the local stone.  The houses were very pretty with window boxes full of brightly coloured flowers.

Temperatures were predicted to be around 27 degrees C next day so we tried to get away early, although typically the dining room wasn’t open for breakfast till after 8-30am. We drove through the Boca del Infierno ( Mouth of Hell) to the very end of the Guarrinza valley and tramped up to a pass Aquas Tuertas , and on to a mountain lake called Ibon de Estanes.  Perfect weather,  great scenery, and virtually no other people.  There was some wildlife though – cows with cowbells, vultures, wild horses and marmots.  We saw a lot of fresh pig rooting and had been told there were a lot of wild boar about, but we didn’t see any.  The day ended pleasantly at the out-side bar at Echo, drinking good cheap local wine in the town square with a few locals and some loud Americans. Still slightly unused to local custom, we turned up at the hotel dining room for dinner at 8.45pm, only to find that we were the first ones there yet again.  It’s hard to get used to all meals being about 2 hours later than home.

Click here to see photos of the Pyrenees

The Basque Country

 Legazpia and the Basque Country

The Alkorta’s live in Legazpia, in the heart of the Basque Country, about 40km from the coast.  We had been looking forward to meeting them to thank them for looking after David so well during his AFS exchange 6 years ago.  We can now see why he enjoyed his stay so much and is still so much a part of the family. Basque is a unique language, but David had given us a few tips to get us going.  We managed to say “Kaixo” (hello) to everyone, and were greeted by Jose- Mari, Isobel, Maddi, Mshuash, and the dogs, Txixpi and Balxi. Christina joined us later.

The legendary hospitality began immediately on arrival, with pre-lunch snacks of local ham, bread and wine. After a look around Legazpia, Isobel produced a big lunch with many dishes, more wine, then siesta. In the late afternoon we made a trip to the coast to see the Sea of Cantabria.  Getaria is a fishing and beach resort, with an historic harbour from where the first ever circum-navigation of the globe was started and ended.

For supper we all went to the local food club.  The locals set up their club in an un-used restaurant, and the members pay a sub which covers the rent, buys bulk gourmet food and wine, and employs dish-washing staff.  Member meet there any night they like to cook their dinner, share dishes, drink wine and socialise.  It is very civilised and a great idea.

We slept in the next morning, 10 hours sleep, probably due to the wine the night before.  Then off to explore San Sebastian which is a large and beautiful city on the coast.  The calm harbour, fine beaches and lovely old buildings make this a popular tourist destination and the most expensive real estate in Spain.  All the Alkorta’s except Chris headed back to Legazpia later in the day in the train, and we got explore a few bars to try out the pintxos (Basque word for tapas). We stayed in Chris’s flat the night in the nearby industrial town and high-density residential area of Pasaia. Even our GPS got lost trying to find our way of this labyrinth in the morning.

The unemployment figures in Spain are a bit depressing, and everyone talks about “the crisis”.  

Click here to see photos of the Basque country